Denver Worker's Compensation Info: workers compensation death benefits

Showing posts with label workers compensation death benefits. Show all posts

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Back to Routine Doesn't Mean Back in Pain - The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. - Workers Comp Blog

By Evan Johnston - The MEMIC Summer Safety Series 09/10/2013 15:38:00

Portland, ME (WorkersCompensation.com) - Back to school and back to work often means more time at a desk and in front of a computer screen. But those old desk jockey aches and pains don't have to return with you from your summer vacation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, musculoskeletal injuries caused by poor ergonomics take nearly 400,000 workers out of work for an average of 8 days each year. And, while many of us can't avoid sitting in front of a computer for several hours a day, there are ways to decrease your chances of injury and time lost from work or school.

The first step is often an ergonomic evaluation of your work area and your body positioning as you sit at your computer. Here are some recommendations from MEMIC's Chief Ergonomist Allan Brown:

Position your head so your ears are over your shoulders

Place screen monitor 18-24 inches from your eyes

Adjust your monitor's height so it's in direct line of your sight

Relax your shoulders

Keep upper arms in line with your torso

Put elbows at 90 degrees with arms comfortably at your side

Make sure wrists are in neutral posture; not be bent up or down

Place mouse on same plane as your keyboard

Use a chair with a good lumbar support

Keep feet flat on the floor; if your feet don't reach the floor, use a foot rest

If you don't have access to an ergonomics expert or are unsure of your positioning, have a friend snap a picture of you at your workstation to see what your posture looks like.

But perhaps the most important piece of advice is to get up and move. Every hour you should take a stretch, go for a walk, talk to a friend, but make sure to get up and move throughout your day. Whatever your new fall routine looks like, make good ergonomics a part of it.

This article is part of the MEMIC Summer Safety Series.

Original Source

The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. can help you with your workers' compensation or Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer

Any content of this blog is intended for informational purposes only.It is not intended to solicit business, provide legal advice from The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. and does not serve as a medium for an attorney-client relationship. Therefore, The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. is not responsible for the information on this blog which may not apply to every reader. Always seek professional counsel if you have any legal matters. Contents within the blog of The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C., logos and other related media are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Deadly Symmetry In Work Comp. A Stick With Two Short Ends - The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C.

There is a decades old ongoing discussion in work comp: is it the employer or employee who benefits or loses? The answer: both.

Neither Employer of Employee Are “Winners” in Work Comp

Neither the employer (who, ultimately, pays for everything) nor the employee (who has substantial net wage loss in nearly every claim) can be said to “win”, no matter what the outcome. “Winning”, to most people, means emerging undamaged, but the net losses in comp sometimes remain unknown to the parties until years later.

The most perfidious feature of work comp laws is the “substantial evidence” rule, which permits a comp board ruling to be unreviewable on questions of fact and medical opinion if it is supported by “substantial evidence”, which, in fact, is defined as “a scintilla of evidence”, which is hardly substantial at all.

So what? Well, it means that a typical comp system can make inconsistent rulings on a large group of claims, but each will be based on “substantial evidence” even though the rulings in bulk are contradictory. Comp systems have noticed this since the beginning, and so have the lowliest ALJs, who quickly realize that they are shielded from review, except on questions of law, not fact. So, no matter who might win a particular claim, all can become the next victim of “substantial evidence”.

Case Law Decisions Lead to Predictable Outcomes Most of the Time

But “a scintilla of evidence” is not a rule which demands the best of any system. It leads to decisions which erode into predictable outcomes most of the time, warranted or not, punctuated by irrational outcomes for no apparent reasons. One NY comp case, in the 1980s, was so inexplicable that it made a list of outrageous decisions which was published in the Readers’ Digest.

The comp claim involved a high school teacher who was so “stressed” by work that he shot and killed the principal. And then went on to win a max rate “stress claim”. This was upheld by the highest court in NY based on “substantial evidence”. The principal’s widow, in turn, had no problem winning a death claim, also based on – “substantial evidence”.

Therefore, neither party got the “short end” since both “won”.

If the result of a claim is only measured by who got money or who did not, the real “winners” and “losers” can never be identified. In the above high school case, what was the true effect on workplace morale? Was it ever considered? What was the successor principal faced with in terms of maintaining discipline and integrity in the school system?

By ReduceYourWorkersComp 09/10/2013 09:30:00

And what did the attorneys representing workers do with that decision? For years it was routinely cited as authority for “all doubts are resolved in the worker’s favor”, although what doubt was in that claim is difficult to imagine.

The teacher later gave an interview to a newspaper, after his win in the highest court, complaining of the “stress” the litigation had subjected him to.

So who wins every comp claim? Everyone but the employer and employee.

Editor Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

The post The Deadly Symmetry In Work Comp. A Stick With Two Short Ends appeared first on Reduce Your Workers Compensation Insurance Coverage Costs with Timely Information for Employers | Work Comp Roundup.

Original Source

The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. can help you with your workers' compensation or Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Court: NM Officer's Widow Entitled to Benefits - Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. Worker's Comp Blog

SANTA FE, N.M. August 21, 2013 (AP)

By BARRY MASSEY Associated Press

A New Mexico court has ruled that the widow of an off-duty tribal police officer who died more than a decade ago while rescuing a boy is entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

The decision by the state Court of Appeals was welcomed Tuesday by a lawyer for Cheryl Schultz, who has waged a long legal battle after a workers' compensation judge in 2007 rejected her claim for benefits involving the death of her husband, Kevin, a Pojoaque Pueblo police officer.

Kevin Schultz was fishing with a group of children from his church when a 12-year-old boy fell into the Rio Grande. After pulling the boy from the river, Schultz collapsed in shallow water and drowned. Schultz was a chaperone on the trip near the small community of Pilar, which is outside the boundaries of Pojoaque Pueblo lands.

Schultz may have hit his head on a rock and the injury could have incapacitated him, according to a medical examiner.

In a ruling issued Monday, the Court of Appeals overturned a decision by the workers' compensation judge that Cheryl Schultz wasn't entitled to benefits because her husband wasn't performing the duties of his job when he died.

The court said benefits will be provided for off-duty law enforcement officers injured or killed in emergency situations "reasonably calling for police officer assistance."

"If it is our expectation as a society that police officers put themselves in harm's way, sometimes irrespective of their on-duty status, then it should also be our expectation that such officers be compensated when they are injured in the course of doing so," the court said in an opinion written by Judge Cynthia Fry.

George Weeth, a lawyer for Cheryl Schultz, said the decision expanded the state's legal framework for providing workers' compensation benefits for off-duty police.

"That is the policy that poor Cheryl has been trying to establish for 10 years now," Weeth said. "It's been a long road to get here."

He estimated that the widow and her son may be entitled to death benefits of about $300,000, but said the final amount will be determined later by a worker's compensation judge. The family is entitled to payments for funeral expenses up to $7,500 and some medical costs.

The case has been the subject of several appellate court rulings since the workers' compensation judge initially ruled that the widow's claim was filed too late and her husband's death didn't happen in the course of his employment.

The state Supreme Court twice revived the case after the Court of Appeals ruled against Cheryl Schultz.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court said that delays in the filing of the workers' compensation claim were caused by Kevin Schultz's employer and the justices ordered the appeals court to resolve the question of whether the officer's death occurred during his law enforcement duties.

Contact the Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. today if you have a workers' compensation or a Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer